First Snowfall
by Clara Barton
Summary: Three variations on the theme of First Snowfall, all featuring 1x2x3 A gift fic for rebelflame originally posted on tumblr.


A/N: A WAY too belated Christmas gift for Flamerebel who wanted some 1x2x3 first snow loving.

A/N 2: Basically three variations of a first snow experience. The first is set in canon, with just light fluff; the second is a college AU kind of universe, still fairly fluffy; the third is post-canon, with some fluffy smut.

Warnings: fluff, language, angst, smut (only variation 3 and only a teensy bit)

Pairings: 1x2x3, background RxD, background 4x5

 _First Snowfall_

 _Variation 1_

Duo had grown up with the cold. It was an old acquaintance. He couldn't really call it an old friend, since friends didn't bite into you and make you tear up, make you huddle into a ball and wish you were anywhere else. But he couldn't call it an enemy either, since it had kept him awake, had kept him _alive_ more times than he could count.

The colony he had lived on in the L2 sector had been one of the shittiest among the shittiest of colonies, always operating in the red, always with enviro controls that needed to be replaced but were hardly ever even repaired. So he had been cold, had shivered so hard he bit his lips and had had to shove icy fingers into his underwear just to avoid frostbite.

And he had been in space, had felt the grasp of death, merciless and oh so cold, wrap around him in an EVA suit and he had known the complete terror of a breach light on his suit, had felt the ice in his veins, the utter terror that this was how he would die.

So he knew cold.

And he knew wet.

Shitty enviro controls didn't just mean cold, after all, which meant leaks _everywhere_. And as soon as Duo had made it off colony, had snuck aboard a shuttle and prayed that life as a spacer was better than life as a colony rat, he had been stuck with the worst shipboard maintenance chores, had cleaned and scrubbed surfaces until his hands bled and had slipped into more than a few puddles of something foul.

So he knew wet.

But what he didn't know was that on Earth the two could be magic.

He'd seen photos, seen vids because he wasn't ignorant, but had never seen it with his own two eyes, had never _felt_ it.

So of course he volunteered to take first watch, sitting on Deathscythe's canvas draped chest and trying to catch snow on his tongue while the other pilots slept.

He was cold and he was wet, sure, but he also had frozen white crystals on his eyelashes, could lay back on a blanket of frozen clouds and sure, maybe the Terrans had something special going on here. With this snow stuff.

It had only been three hours of his four hour shift when he heard the crunch of approaching footsteps.

Duo hopped down from his Gundam and pulled out his gun.

He crept around the side of the behemoth, keeping to the shadows, treading as silently as he always did while -

 _Crunch_.

He looked down in betrayal at his own feet, at his boots buried in the snow.

 _What the hell?_

"I could have killed you at least three times by now."

Duo closed his eyes and sighed.

Of fucking course. If it wasn't an OZ patrol it had to be Heero Yuy. The two forces in the universe who had made it their mission to ruin his life.

Duo put his gun away and turned to see Heero decked out in a fur lined coat, actual _pants_ for once and his usual work boots.

Duo arched an eyebrow at him.

"Anything I can help you with, Mr. Perfect?"

"Clearly you're the one who needs help," Heero retorted.

Duo sneered.

"Oh yeah? And just what do you think I need help with _this_ time?"

Heero shrugged idly.

"How to keep watch? How to stay dry? How to move stealthily? How to -"

Duo help up a hand.

"Yeah, yeah I get it. I need help with _everything_."

Even though he was used to the way that Heero treated Duo more like a liability than a comrade, it still rankled. Especially tonight. Especially when he had been sitting alone and enjoying the snow.

He was just glad Heero hadn't seen him trying to catch snowflakes in his mouth. He could only imagine the lecture _that_ would inspire.

Heero's eyes flicked past Duo.

"You secured the tarps over the Gundams well enough."

Duo sneered, always his first instinct when Heero said something to him, and then he listened to the words, processed them.

"Holy shit. Did you just _compliment_ me?"

Heero's lips compressed.

"Don't go getting delusions of grandeur."

"Are you kidding me? This is the best day of my life! If I wasn't afraid of an OZ patrol killing me I'd be shouting at the sky! Heero Yuy finds me slightly less incompetent!"

Heero's eyes looked about as cold as the icicles hanging from the Gundam behind Duo.

"You're an idiot."

Duo snorted.

"That's more like it. Phew. For a minute there I was wondering if you were some kind of spy robot thing sent to assassinate me."

Heero continued to glare, but Duo saw his lips twitch upwards ever so slightly.

"Spy robot thing?" he echoed.

"I don't make up the words, I just use them."

Heero made a noise at that. A noise that out of _anyone_ else Duo would have called a laugh.

Duo looked at him askance.

"Why are you out here anyway?"

Heero shifted his weight and Duo had to scowl.

"You came out here to check up on me, didn't you? You - I'm a Gundam Pilot, same as you." Okay, not the same, Duo admitted to himself, since he had _stolen_ his Gundam but really, didn't that make him even _more_ qualified? Kind of? "I don't need you to babysit me. I'm perfectly capable of sitting here and twiddling my thumbs for four fucking hours and not get -"

There was noise, the snap of a twig and Heero and Duo were instantly flat on the snow, Duo going down a little harder than he had meant to and getting a face full of snow.

"Our four o'clock," Duo whispered.

Heero jerked his head in acknowledgement.

Duo made a sweeping motion with his hand, indicating that they should split up and flank around.

Heero acknowledged the command.

Weapons in hand, they rose to their feet and slowly, hugging the Gundam, circled around to the source of the sound.

Duo rooted around in the snow until he found a rock. He picked it up in his free hand, running his gloved fingers over the surface over and over and then, as he approached, he threw the rock to his left, towards the treeline, hoping to distract whoever was out there and at the same time hoping to hell he didn't hit Heero in the head.

He held his breath as he rounded the shoulder of his Gundam, leading with his gun, finger barely ghosting over the trigger.

Standing there, face expressionless except for an eyebrow quirked in amusement, was Trowa.

He a thermos in one gloved hand, the other hand in the pocket of his too large coat. The bottom half of his face was hidden by that ratty scarf he insisted on wearing everywhere and his hair blew softly in the night air.

Duo let out the breath he had been holding and shoved his gun back into the waistband of his pants.

"What the hell?" He hissed at Trowa.

He saw Heero step out of the shadows, watched him tuck away his own weapon and approach with a scowl.

Trowa didn't even bother to look over his shoulder at Heero, didn't move a single muscle but Duo was confident the taller boy knew he was there.

"I could have killed you."

Trowa's amused eyebrow quirked even higher and Duo saw his lips twitched.

"You heard my approach," Trowa said.

Duo stared at him.

That? A twig snapping had been Trowa's idea of letting Duo hear his approach?

"For fucks sake," Duo muttered.

"You're early for your shift," Heero said.

Trowa shrugged again and Duo threw up his hands.

"So what - you _both_ thought I was incapable of finishing my watch on my own? Thanks for the vote of confidence guys. Look, will it make you two both sleep easier if I just find the nearest OZ outpost and turn myself in?"

"They might track you back to us," Heero said, his deadpan tone either the perfect delivery of a sarcastic response or Heero was seriously considering his offer.

Duo glared at him.

"I'm not sure how that would make things better for _you_ ," Trowa murmured.

 _He_ was being sarcastic. That much Duo knew.

Duo folded his arms over his chest and pushed his bangs, wet now thanks to his dive into the snow, out of his eyes.

He saw Trowa's smirk widen and his eyes narrowed.

"I'm just a joke to both of you, aren't I? Haha, that idiot Maxwell can't even stand watch so let's go make sure he knows what a failure we think he is. You're a riot. You two should start an act - The Mute and The Muted."

"Are you done?" Trowa asked, still in that damned mild voice that made Duo wonder just what it would take to change his tone.

Duo considered. He could go on, could dig himself even further into a hole with these two, could probably go on for hours about how fed up he was with them constantly watching him, to the point that he could be sitting alone, doing something as ordinary and _uncomplicated_ as rebraid his hair and he would see them watching him. As if he was incapable of doing something he had done for _years_. He was still waiting for one of them to finally sit down and tell him just how wrongly he was braiding his hair, just how _rightly_ they could do it instead.

"For now," Duo sneered, decided at last that it really wasn't worth it to stand out here in the cold and have them just ignore his complaints.

Trowa's lips pursed and then tilted into that damn smirk of his, the one Duo also wanted to see turn into a full smile.

"I came out early because I might share some hot chocolate with me," Trowa said, waggling the thermos slightly so that Duo could hear the sloshing contents.

"Oh." That possibility had never occurred to Duo. He frowned and looked past Trowa to Heero. "And you? You don't seem to have any hot chocolate."

"No. I didn't think about that," Heero said, frowning himself. "That was a good plan."

Heero and Trowa exchanged looks, Trowa's smirk broadening just a bit and Duo felt a weird flash of jealousy. So _Heero_ could make Trowa smile but Duo couldn't.

"Yeah, fine. Whatever. I like hot chocolate." Duo snapped.

"I know," Trowa responded.

Duo had to roll his eyes. _I know_. Who said shit like that? Trowa Barton.

The three of them climbed onto Heavyarms, nestling into the hollow of the mecha's neck and huddling close together. Duo found himself between the other two boys and he tensed for a moment at their proximity, at the sudden realization that this could all have been a setup, a plan of theirs to get him alone and -

"Here." Trowa passed the small cup of hot chocolate to Duo and he took it, staring dumbly at it for a moment. "It's hot but… you don't want to let it freeze before you drink it."

There it was again. That wry humor. That half smirk.

Beside Duo, Heero snorted a laugh.

Duo scowled but he took a sip of the hot chocolate.

He had found some cheap mix in the cupboards at the safe house one day, had made it with water and decided he had never tasted anything as extraordinary. He stayed up nights, after everyone else was asleep, to make himself a cup and look out of the windows and up at space.

This hot chocolate though - it was different. It wasn't what Duo usually made. It was better, so much better that it barely resembled Duo's secret nightly pastime.

"It's good," he allowed before passing the cup on to Heero.

Heero took it, turned it around and took a sip, his lips _exactly_ where Duo's had just been.

Duo frowned at that. Captain Meticulous over there never did things unintentionally. So what the hell was that about?

"Made a supply run this afternoon. I thought I would get you some better hot chocolate."

Duo shook his head and gave a short, bitter laugh.

"Oh, so even my hot chocolate mix isn't good enough? Fuck's sake, man, can I do _anything_ right in your books?"

Trowa stared at him for a moment before reaching past him to take the cup back from Heero.

"Told you he didn't feel the same way," Heero muttered.

Duo looked at him.

"What are you talking about?"

Heero didn't respond and Duo looked back at Trowa, who held the cup in one hand, thermos in the other, and seemed to be trying to figure out whether or not to refill it.

"I thought you would like it," Trowa said after a moment, his voice quiet. "We noticed you staying up and drinking it. I wanted to get you something nice."

Duo stared.

Trowa, who was second only to Duo when it came to being as frugal as possible with their resources, who was second only to Heero when it came to detesting anything that deviated from mission instructions.

And then there was Heero - what Heero had said. _Told you he didn't feel the same way_.

The same way as what? What way did Trowa feel about him? And then Duo realized that they talked about him, that they knew he sat alone at night to drink hot chocolate and he wondered just how that conversation went.

 _Maxwell is up again, wasting resources and losing sleep so I'm sure he'll be even crappier than normal if we have to fight tomorrow._

"You wanted to get me something _nice_ ," Duo felt the need to clarify.

Trowa looked acutely miserable.

"It was Heero's idea," he said suddenly, earning a frustrated growl from Heero.

"It was Heero's idea to get me something nice? Are you - is this some kind of weird elaborate joke you two have planned?"

"The only joke was us thinking this could turn out well," Heero muttered. He rose from his seat beside Duo. "There's no point in letting him continue to ridicule us. He doesn't like me, he doesn't like you. I'm going inside."

Heero started to move and Duo did the first thing he could think of. He tackled him.

They rolled across the chest of the mecha, Heero's hands fisting into the material of Duo's coat while Duo tried to stop them with his own hands.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Maxwell?" Heero demanded when they came to a stop, Duo pinning Heero down with his weight.

"You like me," he repeated Heero's words, testing them out.

Heero glared.

Duo turned to see Trowa approach them, cautious frown on his face.

"And _you_ like me."

Yes," Trowa said simply, passing up on any opportunity to comment on Duo's ability to hear or understand basic English. Opportunities he would not normally pass up.

"Huh."

Duo considered this new information, processed it and thought back to his encounters with the other two pilots, thought back to all the times he had caught them looking at him, had walked into a room and seen the two of them stop talking and look away from him, thought back to all those times one or the other - or both - of them found an excuse to interrupt his solo watches or maintenance of the Gundams.

Duo climbed off of Heero and took the thermos from Trowa's hands.

"This stuff is really good," he said. "We shouldn't let it get cold."

Duo walked back over to the spot they had previously occupied and sat back down.

He watched Trowa and Heero exchange a look before they came over and rejoined him, both sitting down gingerly.

Duo sipped at the hot chocolate and then passed the cup to Trowa.

Trowa took it from him, sipped, and then passed it over to Heero.

The three of them sat like that, drinking from the cup, huddled together in the cold, watching the snow fall, for half an hour while they emptied the thermos.

It was the first time Duo even allowed himself to think about the future.

-o-

 _Variation 2_

He felt like an idiot.

It was not a feeling he was accustomed to, and not one he really knew how to deal with.

For as long as he could remember, Heero had been a success. At everything.

Maybe it was due to his parents constant pushing him to succeed, maybe it was due to being so 'gifted' as teachers and coaches had always told him. But for whatever reason, Heero was a success, was _perfect_ at almost everything he put his hand to.

So he wasn't used to doubting himself, wasn't used to suspecting he was _wrong_ and he did not like the queasy feeling in his stomach at all.

He stared at the red and pink aisle in front of him, at the flowers and candy and stuffed animals and cards and he wondered just _who_ had been cruel enough to invent this holiday in the first place. Who, in their right mind, had decided to pick a day in the most miserable part of winter to celebrate love - knowing full the likelihood of people forgetting the date, or of people people too terrified to actually do anything if they even had the choice.

Heero, as one of those people who had the choice, was battling against his terror.

He was convinced this was wrong, that this was A Very Bad Idea that he would regret for a long, long time.

He was about to give up, to turn and walk out and actually accept failure at this but he was stopped by the small hand on his shoulder that gave a firm, more than a little painful squeeze.

"Heero. Suck it up. You can do this."

He turned to glare at his best friend, but Relena simply smirked back. She was enjoying this, that much was clear.

It was also clear to Heero that she was enjoying this _too_ much.

"Easy for you to say - but I don't see _you_ getting any Valentine's gifts for Hilde."

Relena arched an eyebrow.

"That's because I already got them. I ordered Star Wars chocolates from Lunar Wolf Treats for her and I knitted a Jayne Cobb hat for her."

Heero arched an eyebrow at that. He envied Relena's foresight to order those chocolates - that would have been a good thing for _him_ to do. The fact that Relena was dating such an sci-fi obsessed nerd never ceased to amaze Heero. Relena, who dressed like she was waiting to be photographed for a fashion magazine every day of the week, dated a girl who had once come to a party dressed in Batman longjohns. Heero didn't get it, didn't really see what the two girls had in common aside from their very obvious and often very public physical attraction to each other.

"Now," Relena said and shoved Heero down the aisle. "Pick out some gifts."

"I don't even know what to get," Heero sighed, overwhelmed once again.

"Well…" Relena picked up a monkey that looked like the byproduct of centuries of inbreeding. She studied its face, shook her head sadly and put it back down into a bin of similarly unfortunate creatures. "What do they like?"

Heero sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets.

He had regretted telling Relena about his crush immediately. Now, three months after his confession, he regretted it even more.

Relena, a childhood friend of his and the ideal future bride for him according to both his parents and hers, had agreed to come over to his parent's house for Thanksgiving dinner with the stipulation that he had to be _her_ date for Christmas Eve dinner at her grandmother's house. This had been a running arrangement for them, for years. At first it had been a result of their parents matchmaking attempts, but when they were in high school and both realized, after an incredibly awkward groping session, just how very, very gay they both were, their standing holiday dates had provided an excellent cover and eliminated the need to explain just why they never brought over a significant other.

It wasn't that they were ashamed, necessarily, but both Heero and Relena came from very traditional families and neither one of them saw much point in upsetting their parents until they absolutely had to. Not the _best_ way to cope and be open, but, they had agreed, the least painful in the short-term.

This past Thanksgiving had been the usual boring three hour meal with family, until Heero's uncle had suddenly asked Heero just when he planned to finally propose to Relena - they should, his uncle said, be engaged before they went to law school so that some future Supreme Court justice didn't latch onto Relena. Relena had blushed, Heero had scowled, and that night when they sat out by the heated pool at her house and shared a joint Relena had asked him if he ever planned on coming out to his parents, had said that _she_ was bringing Hilde to the family beach house for Spring Break and that their time as each other's beards was at an end.

Maybe it was the pot, maybe it was the realization that he would either have to find a new fake girlfriend or actually admit to his parents that he was gay, but Heero had confessed his crush to Relena.

She had looked momentarily taken aback, and then smug.

"I knew it," she said after taking a drag. "I knew you liked at least _one_ of them. But both? Heero you are a greedy, greedy boy."

Heero rolled his eyes and took the joint back from her. He took a hit and held the smoke in meditatively, then released it in a choking gasp when Relena grabbed his shoulder in a sudden, violent motion.

"Oh my god is this because of Halloween? Have you had a thing for them since Halloween when they did that sexy table dance to that Ariana Grande song? Because I'll be honest, they were hot enough together that it made even _me_ a little bi-curious - until Hilde showed me _her_ version of that dance later on. Without any clothes on."

Heero had winced, both at that mental image and at the pain in his arm. And while he could admit that seeing the two boys of his, literal, dreams grinding against each other on the dining room table at Quatre Winner's mansion, their hands running over each other's bodies, mouths open and eyes half shut, had definitely provided even more reason to be attracted to them, Heero's crush went back even further. He reluctantly spilled the whole thing to Relena.

He had met the two freshmen year, when Duo and Trowa lived across the hall from Heero and his then - and still - roommate Wufei. Heero wasn't so pathetic as to claim love at first sight, but there had been something about them, something about the way they bickered as they unpacked their stuff, leaving the door to their dorm room open so that Heero could hear every word, that intrigued him. Duo had more or less forced Heero and Wufei to hang out with Trowa and him, dragging them to get pizza, to see movies, to go to parties, to study for midterms and finals. Heero had seen it happen, had been on the sidelines to watch Duo and Trowa slowly fall for each other and he had been happy for them, had liked the way Duo would kiss Trowa almost without thinking, at random moments and the way that Trowa would sometimes look over at Duo and smile softly. But he had also been jealous, had also wished that _he_ could be the recipient of those looks, of those kisses. It had taken Heero a while - more than a year and three boyfriends - to realize that he didn't wish he was with Duo instead of Trowa, or with Trowa instead of Duo - he wished he was with _both_ of them.

It was hard to wrap his head around - the realized that he wanted to be with _two_ men, and since he didn't really see it ever happening, he had kept his mouth shut about it until the Thanksgiving of his junior year.

Relena had then made it her mission to get Heero to confess his feelings to Heero and Trowa. They had moved off campus this year, had found an a three bedroom apartment only a few blocks from campus and Duo and Trowa had taken the master suite while Heero and Wufei had moved into the other two rooms. It had been… both better and much worse than Heero had anticipated. Duo and Trowa, unlike Relena and Hilde, were fairly private people when it came to groping each other in public or sticking their tongues down each other's throats, the drunken table dance at Halloween being the very notable exception. Heero was grateful that, to them at least, public also meant the living room of the apartment. He was torn - between being miserable and even more grateful - at how thin the wall between his room and their room was. He never would have guessed that Trowa was so vocal in bed, and the morning after _that_ realization, Heero had been unable to look at either Duo or Trowa without remembering the things Trowa had begged Duo to do to him the night before.

Despite Relena's constant prodding - he should get them a Christmas present that was a photo of himself in only a red velvet thong and Santa hat, he should try to corner them at Quatre's New Year's Eve party and kiss them both - Heero had kept his mouth shut, his secret safe and his pride intact.

He was too afraid of their rejection, too afraid of losing their friendship, and he hated how cowardly he felt.

So, the afternoon of Valentine's Day, Heero had seen Trowa and Duo walking together across campus, hand in hand, and made a sigh just miserable enough that Relena had decided enough was enough and dragged him to Target and shoved him down the Valentine's Day aisle.

"They like each other," Heero answered her question as he looked over the chaos. He wondered what they had gotten for each other.

"Aside from each other," Relena muttered. "Duo likes chocolate, right? He and Hilde eat their weight in gelt each year when she comes back from the Winter Break."

"True," Heero turned towards the rows of heart shaped chocolate boxes. Heero hesitated as he caught sight of a giant, heart-shaped Reese's peanut butter cup. Duo was obsessed with Reese's. He reached out for it, thinking yet again that he was an idiot and this was all going to blow up in his face.

Relena made a noise of approval.

"Now… what about Trowa?"

"This is stupid," Heero muttered, looking over the rest of the crap and having no idea at all what to get for the other half of his crush.

"Well yeah. It's Valentine's Day. Of course it's stupid. That's the whole point. You're supposed to get something stupid and frivolous and cute and bare your heart for the person - the people - you love. Honestly, Heero, it's the thought that counts here. And since you refused my perfectly sane and really excellent suggestion to dress up as Cupid and wait around on their bed in a bunch of rose petals, I'm thinking you are down to two options."

Heero arched an eyebrow her.

"Transfer or drop out when this all goes horribly wrong?" He guessed.

Relena rolled her eyes and lifted her arms.

In one hand she had a stuffed raccoon, in the other a stuffed fox. Each held a plush heart, each had a different message embroidered on them.

"Is Trowa more of a love bandit or a clever fox?"

Heero glared at her, but Relena just wiggled the stuffed animals at his face.

With a disgusted grunt, Heero took the raccoon from her."

"Now all we need to do is get you a red satin thong and -"

"You know, for someone claims to have zero interest in dicks, you are really focused on getting me into a thong."

"Because of your _ass_ Heero. God, your ass is a work of art and you need to share it with the world - I've started an LGBTQ coalition at school whose sole purpose is to get photos of your ass in those spandex shorts you go running in."

Heero decided not to comment - either he would only be encouraging her, or he would discover that she was being deadly serious. He was better off not knowing.

After checking out at the register, Relena gave him a ride back to his apartment.

They sat in her car and looked at the snow softly blanketing the parking lot and apartments.

Heero, originally from Ohio, had been thrilled to be accepted into Emory and move south, where he could avoid the snowy and icy winters he had grown up with. In the three years since he had lived in Atlanta there hadn't been any snow - a few ice storms, but nothing to compare to what he had experienced.

"Now," she said as he grabbed his backpack and the plastic Target bag, "remember. You are Heero Yuy, possessor of the most perfect ass known to humankind. And you're awesome. Tell them you've been in love with them since you heard Duo tell Trowa to take down his motivational cat poster or risk seeing Duo turn it into a PETA ad. And then, when they say that they've been in love with you for just as long, have a great night and don't forget to call me tomorrow so I can say I told you so. On the slim - and I mean crazy slim - chance that they say thanks but we aren't interested, call me tonight and you can come over and cuddle with Hilde and I while we watch the greatest Valentine's Day movie ever made."

Heero arched an eyebrow at that.

"Kill Bill, duh."

Heero rolled his eyes but closed the car door and watched her drive away. As he stood there, looking up at their third story apartment and seeing the light on in Duo and Trowa's bedroom, Heero stood in the snow for a moment, feeling the small flakes land on his hair and face and melt.

Finally, he drew in a deep breath and forced himself to walk the flights of stairs up to his apartment.

As he approached the door Wufei walked out.

Heero lifted his eyebrows in astonishment at Wufei's clothing. He was wearing a suit, a tie and a dress shirt.

It wasn't that Wufei dressed like a slob most days - in fact his appearance was usual meticulous. But Heero had never seen him in a _suit_.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm taking Quatre to Bacchanalia for dinner."

Heero shook his head. Both Wufei and Quatre came from money - more than even Heero and Relena did - and the fact that Wufei was so matter of factly taking his boyfriend out to dinner at the most expensive restaurant in Atlanta took Heero by surprise.

Wufei, in turn, arched an eyebrow at Heero.

"What's in the bag?"

Heero felt his face flush.

"Nothing."

Wufei smirked and grabbed it out of his hands before Heero could twist away. He pulled out the stuffed animal and the Reese's chocolate heart.

"Love Bandit?" Wufei snorted.

"They had a limited selection," Heero defended himself.

"Hmm." Wufei handed the gifts back to Heero but he balled up the bag and shoved it into his suit pocket. "You can't just hold out a Target bag to them. It would look pathetic." He said when Heero gave him a questioning look.

Heat washed over his face.

Wufei knew.

There was no point in even protesting it - not only was Wufei right, but Heero almost never won arguments against him. There would be no convincing him otherwise.

"I have to go or I'll be late. Good luck."

And with that, Wufei abandoned him.

Heero glared at the other man as he disappeared down the stairs.

How long had Wufei known? How obvious was Heero's affections that the other man, usually oblivious to everything that wasn't related to himself, Quatre or social justice, could see it?

Realizing that he was stalling, was just trying to distract himself from the inevitable doom that awaited him, Heero squared his shoulders and opened the door to his apartment.

It had been Trowa's idea to move off campus. While life in the freshmen dorms had been surprisingly boring, apparently last year Duo and Trowa had been assigned a room on a hall full of 'the dregs of the gene pool' according to Trowa, who had insisted on pulling the fire alarm - or setting actual fires - two or three times a week at horrible times. Trowa, who was vocal about few things aside from sex with Duo and French pop music, had filed formal complaints first to his RA and then against his RA when the interruptions to his sleep didn't abate. In the end, Trowa had begged Wufei and Heero to get a place with Duo and he off campus so that he could finally have a decent night of sleep - to which Wufei had responded that Trowa should take that up with Duo, but that he wouldn't mind staring at something besides the institutional walls of a dorm room. Heero, caught between the dilemna of possibly having to find a new roommate and the sure torture of seeing Duo and Trowa together in a domestic setting, had reluctantly agreed to move in as well.

The apartment was sparsely decorated with furniture that Heero and Duo had picked out from a thrift store over the summer while Wufei was away in China visiting family and Trowa in Washington D.C doing an internship with the Smithsonian. There were a few posters on the walls, mostly Trowa's, of paintings and places he wanted to see. The television and Xbox One had been Wufei's contributions, who hooked them up and threatened to dismember Duo if he spilled milk on anything.

It was infinitely better than living on campus, and even though Heero felt a certain amount of trepidation when he stepped into the apartment, he also felt a small measure of comfort. Home sweet home.

Duo and Trowa were sitting on the couch, Trowa leaning against the back of it, legs spread out and Duo sitting between them, laying back on Trowa's chest and reading a book while Trowa watched some seemed to be aimlessly flipping through the television channels on the ridiculously expansive cable package Wufei paid for.

It was not, Heero couldn't help but think, the most romantic of Valentine Day's plans.

Duo turned at the sound of Heero's entrance and grinned.

"Hey!"

Heero nodded at him and at Trowa while he toed off his boots and set down his backpack on the table by the door.

Trowa arched an eyebrow as he looked at the gifts in Heero's hands.

"Heero!" Duo crowed. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"What?" Heero asked, confused by the question.

Duo gestured to Heero's hands.

"Who got you the loot? I didn't think you were seeing anyone."

Oh. Duo thought Heero had been given the gifts. Duo didn't think it was even remotely possible that Heero was about to give the gifts to _them_.

Probably because Duo in no way thought of Heero as a possible romantic interest.

Heero felt his fingers spasm around the gifts and he struggled to think of a convincing lie.

Failing to think of anything, he just shrugged.

"No one really," he said.

Trowa frowned at that response.

"Why are you wet?" Duo asked, getting up from the couch and walking over to him with a concerned look on his face.

"It's snowing."

"Really?"

They both looked over at Trowa, at the note of hopeful excitement in his voice as he got up from the couch and went to the window.

Duo and Heero exchanged smirks.

Duo had been born and raised in Maine, had seen more snow in his lifetime than he felt any one should have to see in a hundred, and had chosen to go to the best school as far south as he could.

Trowa, on the other hand, was from Miami, had never seen snow, had never even experienced much ice since coming to college in Atlanta.

"Such a dork," Duo said fondly and walked over to join Trowa by the window.

Heero looked at them, looked at the way Duo slid an arm around Trowa's waist and the way the taller man leaned into him.

They looked perfect together.

With a sigh, Heero left them and went into his bedroom. He put the rejected gifts on his desk and fell backwards onto his bed.

Staring at the ceiling, he resigned himself to accept the fact that this wasn't going to work out. Duo and Trowa had each other, they were happy, they were perfect. They did not need or want him.

Heero closed his eyes. Fuck Valentine's Day.

A few minutes later there was a knock on his open door.

Heero opened his eyes and looked to see Duo leaning against the door frame.

"Trowa wants to go and try to build a snowman - you want to join us?"

Heero frowned.

"There's not enough snow yet."

Duo rolled his eyes.

"That's what I said - but you know what these surfer dudes are like. They get an idea in their head and there's no stopping them."

"I am not a surfer dude," Trowa muttered, coming up behind Duo, having added a jacket and toboggan to his ensemble.

He looked adorable, eyes twinkling in excitement and maybe Heero was just a glutton for punishment, but it was impossible to say no to that.

"Sure."

He found a warmer jacket, a pair of gloves, and his own toboggan before joining Duo and Trowa at the front door to put his boots back on.

Duo had decided to eschew both a toboggan and a jacket, merely pulling on an additional sweater and a pair of gloves while muttering that this was just like the fourth of july had been back home when he was a kid.

They trooped downstairs and out into the snow covered green space behind their apartment.

Trowa spun around in a slow circle, arms extended, a smile on his face.

Heero found himself staring. He had never seen Trowa look so at ease, so happy about such a simple thing.

He saw Duo doing the same thing, a goofy grin on his face as he admired his boyfriend.

"You know," Duo said after a moment and a wink at Heero, "it's probably not going to be possible to make a snowman. But it _is_ possible to do something else."

"What?" Trowa asked, a frown of disappointment about the snowman on his face.

"This!" Duo lobbed a snowball directly at Trowa's face, catching him on the nose.

It was impossible to read Trowa's expression as he wiped away the snow and Heero found himself holding his breath.

You never knew with Trowa - sometimes he found the weirdest things funny, sometimes he found the most innocent things offensive.

Face clear, Trowa's expression was one of deadly intensity.

Heero watched the mirth vanish from Duo's face in the instant before he took off running.

Trowa chased after him, stopping to scoop up handfuls of snow but still managing to catch up easily. Trowa threw one hand of snow at Duo, causing him to shout obscenities, and then, using his now free hand to grab hold of Duo, forced him down into the snow and shoved the other hand ful of snow into Duo's face.

Duo shouted again and Heero had to smirk at them, a smirk that slowly faded when Duo pulled Trowa down into the snow with him, rolling them over until he straddled him and then leaned down to kiss him.

This was very quickly becoming the Valentine's Day from hell.

He turned to go - he had no interest in watching the two of them reenact some scene from a romantic comedy by rolling around in the snow and kissing each other until they were red-faced and soaking wet.

"Hey!"

It was Trowa's voice, and Heero turned just in time to get hit in the chest with a snowball expertly thrown by Trowa, recruited to Emory for his baseball skills.

He glared at Trowa, but the glare quickly turned to wide-eyed fear when _both_ Trowa and Duo starting running towards him.

They dove on him as he tried to run away and then three of them wrestled in the snow, frantically shoveling it at each other, laughing and cursing and it wasn't until Heero found himself half on top of Duo, half covered by Trowa, that he realized he had an erection.

Trowa, judging by the look of surprise on his face, realized it too.

He stared at Heero for one long, silent moment before Heero pushed him off and scrambled to his feet.

"It's cold," he said, shoving his hands into his coat pockets and trying to hide the bulge in his pants.

Duo and Trowa, still laying in the snow, stared up at him, Duo in complete confusion, Trowa with an unreadable expression on his face.

Heero turned away from them and stomped up the stairs, his heart thumping as loudly as his boots in his ears.

He took off his boots again, and once again went into this room to be alone and miserable - but this time he closed his door behind him before ripping off his jacket and throwing it on the floor and himself on the bed.

It felt like almost immediately there was a knock on his door.

"Go away," he called out.

His door opened and Heero rolled over onto his side to glare at Trowa.

"Heero."

It was said in the same tone of voice that Heero had heard Trowa use when he said Duo's name sometimes, when his boyfriend had done something that seemed to both irritate him and remind him of why he liked him in the first place.

Trowa had never said Heero's name like that before.

He swallowed hard. He liked the way it sounded, liked the way Trowa's eyes stared at him with that soft, intent expression that seemed to just _know_ what he was feeling.

"Can we talk?"

Heero didn't see how things could improve with talking, but it was, as usual, hard to say no to Trowa.

He remained silent and Trowa took that as an invitation. He entered the room and sat down on the foot of Heero's bed.

"Who were the Valentine's gifts for, Heero?"

That was not the question he had been expecting.

"What does it matter?"

Trowa sighed.

"Duo thinks you have a crush on me - thinks you've had a thing for me since day one and all of this time I've been telling him that he was wrong, that you've had a thing for _him_ and he just says I'm a blind idiot. But after this - after what happened out in the snow, after seeing you walk in with those… what's going on Heero?"

He had never felt so humiliated.

They knew. _Everyone_ knew.

"Why did you want to live with me if you thought I was in love with your boyfriend?"

Trowa shrugged.

"Honestly? Because you're one of my best friends and I guess… it's not like I can blame you, can I? You've never done or said anything… I don't think you ever would. That's not who you are but… Heero are you happy?"

"You mean am I happy pining in silence for your boyfriend?"

Trowa shrugged, the expression on his face guarded.

"I see the way you look at him, Heero. And it's not -" Trowa sighed and he seemed to be trying to figure out what to say. "Heero you look at him like you want to kiss him."

"And Duo thinks I look at you the same way?"

Trowa snorted.

"Duo thinks you look at me like you want to live your life with my cock up your ass - his words, not mine," Trowa said, face turning red.

Heero felt his own face turn red.

Trowa picked up the Reese's heart.

"This is for him, right? His favorite kind of chocolate?" Trowa sounded resigned.

"What does it matter? If I do… if I do have this thing for him? Like you said, I'm not going to act on it. Well," Heero amended as he looked at the heart in Trowa's hands, "not now anyway."

Trowa sighed.

"Even if you don't, I'm not sure he won't."

"What?"

"Oh come on - you can't be oblivious to the way Duo looks at you."

Heero stared at him in confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about? You think Duo _likes_ me?"

"I know he does - even if it wasn't just seeing him look at you like he does - he's said as much to me."

Heero felt his stomach flutter.

 _Duo liked him?_

"And… you?"

"Me?" Trowa shrugged. "I still can't believe that Duo ever liked me in the first place. I guess I've kind of been waiting for him to ditch me for you for the last two years."

"Are you an idiot? Duo is crazy about you!"

Trowa made a disbelieving face.

"You know he said we should stay home tonight, in case you didn't have plans and wanted company?"

"He did?"

Trowa nodded, and he looked a little miserable.

"He cares about you, Heero. _Really_ cares about you. And it's not like I can even blame him. I feel the same way, you know?"

"Trowa?"

The other man flushed handed the heart back to Heero.

"You should give it to him. He'd like that."

Trowa got up to leave, but Heero reached out for him, tangling their fingers together.

"Trowa. The raccoon is for you."

Trowa looked over at the stuffed animal, and then down at their joined hands.

Heero flushed and tried to pull away but Trowa's fingers squeezed his.

"You think I'm a love bandit?" He asked, lips quirked upwards in amusement.

Heero glared at him.

"It was that or a clever fox," he growled.

Trowa nodded, looking thoughtful.

"I can see how that would be a difficult decision to make."

Heero rolled his eyes and he tried to pull away, this time Trowa let him.

"I didn't realize you… both of us?"

Heero nodded.

"This whole time?"

He nodded again.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"What was I supposed to say? You two are my closest friends outside of Relena, you two are in love and perfect for each other."

"I… I don't know," Trowa answered honestly. "I don't know what I would do in your position. Does this - I think you should give Duo his present."

Heero frowned.

"Come on," Trowa tugged Heero up from the bed and then picked up the racoon. He held it in one hand and looked at it fondly.

Heero followed Trowa out of his room and down the hall towards the bedroom that Duo and Trowa shared.

The door was open, and Trowa walked right in, Heero hesitating for a moment before following him.

"Tro? Everything ok? Is Heero -"

Duo walked out of their private bathroom, shirtless and toweling at his hair.

He stared at Heero, at the Reese's heart in his hand, and arched an eyebrow.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Heero said and shoved it into his hands.

Duo's cheeks flushed and he looked over at Trowa, a slightly wild look in his eyes.

"I, ah…" Duo trailed off when he noticed Trowa holding the racoon. He arched an eyebrow.

"What? You thought you were the only one he gave a Valentine too?" Trowa asked.

Duo grinned and looked back at Heero.

"Please tell me you didn't give one to Wufei too," Duo said.

Heero scowled.

"Why the hell would I give Wufei one?"

"Because you were trying to be a good friend and like, demonstrate your platonic love for all of us?"

"No, I didn't give one to Wufei."

Duo's grin broadened.

"We didn't get you anything, though," Trowa spoke up.

"That's okay. I -" Heero was still having trouble wrapping his mind around how quickly things had changed, how much he now knew about them.

"I mean, we could always improvise something," Duo interrupted him.

Heero frowned.

He had been on the receiving end of some of Duo's improvisations before - from disastrous Halloween costumes to recipes gone horribly wrong - and he felt a bit of trepidation at the idea.

"What exactly did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I dunno… maybe a kiss?"

Heero looked from Duo to Trowa.

Trowa nodded.

"It would be polite, at least, to thank you for the gifts."

"Absolutely," Duo agreed. "And you know Tro and I - always concerned about being polite."

Heero snorted in amusement at the blatant lie, but he felt his pulse skitter and then race when Duo stepped close to him.

"If that's what you want," Duo said.

"What?" Heero was so focused on Duo, on his mouth, that he had no idea what he was talking about.

"A kiss? Do you _want_ us to kiss you?"

Heero nodded, not entirely trusting himself to speak.

Duo smirked and closed the rest of the space between them. He leaned forward and brushed his lips against Heero's, smooth and firm and lingering, the heat of his body practically radiating through Heero's clothes.

After a moment, Duo drew back, a slightly dazed expression on his face. His lips slowly spread into a wide, self-satisfied smirk.

Heero found himself smirking back, at least until Trowa stepped up, leaned down, and kissed him.

Then his smirk was gone and Heero, a still a little breathless from kissing Duo, latched onto Trowa's shoulders as the other man brushed his lips against Heero's mouth in a teasing caress, up, down and then parted them slightly as he continued the kiss.

It was, Heero reflected as Trowa drew back, probably the two best first kisses he had ever had.

Duo's smirk was downright lascivious.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Heero."

-o-

 _Variation 3_

Something small and rough and wet was attacking him.

Trowa winced and tried to roll away, but he was tangled up in the sheets and limbs of his bed partners.

A whimper, so soft Trowa was sure he was the only one to hear it, and Trowa gave in and opened his eyes.

He found himself nose to nose with Wufei, the dog.

Wufei stared at him with warm, wet brown eyes and rubbed his cold black nose against Trowa.

Trowa made a face and shied away.

Wufei whimpered again and Trowa turned his head to look past the dog and see what time it was -almost six in the morning.

"Okay, you win," he whispered to the dog and started to figure out how to climb out of bed without waking up the others.

It was an effort, but Trowa managed to lever himself up and over them and then followed an excited Wufei out of the bedroom.

The dog yipped at Trowa's feet, tail wagging and tongue hanging out in a sign of pure joy.

Trowa had to roll his eyes, but found himself smiling fondly at the dog all the same. It was like this every morning - Wufei acting like the best thing in the world had just happened when Trowa got out of bed to let him out.

As they neared the back door in the kitchen, Trowa looked out of the window and saw that the entire backyard was covered in white.

He frowned. It had been cold last night, but Trowa hadn't bothered to check the weather report, and he definitely hadn't anticipated snow.

It had been an unseasonably warm winter, and this was the first snowfall of the year.

Trowa almost wondered if he should get up the others. Duo still thought of snow as a minor miracle, even after eight years of residing on Earth. Heero, while he didn't care all that much for snow, always enjoyed the look on Duo's face while Duo built snowmen or tried to pelt them with snowballs.

He would have turned around and dragged the other two men out of bed had it not been for the fact that Duo had returned from a five month long undercover stint just yesterday, and the three of them had spent most of the night relearning each other's bodies.

Heero and Duo were not, Trowa had learned early on in their relationship, morning people even after a decent amount of sleep.

So Trowa decided to leave them be and he stepped into the nearest pair of boots - Heero's - and pulled on the heaviest coat - Duo's - beside the door.

Wufei scratched at the door, excited and impatient.

"Settle down," Trowa gently admonished him before opening the door.

Wufei went running out of the door, as he always did, and then almost immediately stopped running when he reached the edge of the porch and saw the white landscape before him.

It looked like only a couple of inches of snow, enough to cover the dog's paws and ankles, but not too deep.

Wufei sniffed the air cautiously, his tail wagging slowly, but made no effort to leave the porch.

"Come on, pequeno," Trowa coaxed the dog.

He stepped off the porch, out into the snow, to demonstrate to Wufei that it was safe.

The dog continued to wag his tail, brown eyes scanning all of the white, but remained on safe ground.

Trowa crouched down and held out his hands, waggling his fingers at the dog like he did when they played together.

He could see the muscles in Wufei's haunches bunch up as the dog, clearly torn about what to do, thought about jumping down to him.

But even after several minutes of Trowa crouching down, whistling and cajoling, Wufei remained on the porch.

He was, as Duo had said many times, a stubborn little fuck.

Trowa got back to his feet, walked to the porch, and picked up the mutt.

Wufei whined, protesting at being picked up at all, much less to be carried to his certain doom, and when Trowa set him down in the snow the dog stood absolutely still for a solid minute.

And then he lowered his nose to the ground, scooping up a little mound of white onto his muzzle, and Trowa had to laugh.

Wufei looked over at him and wagged his tail at the sound before barking.

Trowa feinted to his left, as if he was going to run towards Wufei, and the dog barked again in delight and took off towards Trowa's right, running around him in circle after circle, dashing through the snow and barking loudly enough that Trowa was sure that Heero and Duo, if not their neighbors as well, were woken up by it.

Trowa retreated back to the porch while Wufei enjoyed tearing up the pristine snow in the backyard.

It had been his idea to get a dog, the request shocking both Heero and Duo at first, until Trowa said that he missed having an animal, missed having something to look after. Heero had been the one who declared that it had to be a shelter dog, preferably a grown one. Heero and Trowa had picked the dog out, while Duo was away on an undercover mission earlier in the year, and the dog had been known simply as 'dog' until Duo returned from his mission and named him Wufei.

Heero had pointed out how very unamused their comrade would be by that, but Duo had shrugged and suggested they simply call the dog Wu when around other people. He and Trowa were master spies - and Heero didn't talk all that much anyone - Duo was certain it was a secret they could keep.

Trowa had been the one to slip up, to remind Heero to take Wufei to the vet one day at work and Wufei, the human one, had spun around suspecting an insult and refused to talk to all three of them for almost a month, until he had come over to their house for Duo's birthday and the dog Wufei had taken an instant liking to his namesake and ever since, Wufei the human made it a point to deliver treats to Heero's desk, always to give them to the dog - the good one, not Duo.

The joke never struck Duo as funny, but Trowa thought it was a fair return on the laughs Duo got from naming their dog after the former Gundam pilot.

The dog had been just another element in their unexpectedly blissful domestic existence. Trowa still marveled at it, still found himself waking up in the middle of the night, shocked to find Heero sleeping beside him, still found himself jumping whenever Duo stepped into the shower with him before he relaxed into his embrace, still sat in the driveway and stared at their cottage for a few minutes each night when he parked his bike. A home. A family. Things he had never thought to have - and now things he found it impossible to live without.

Finally, Wufei squatted down and unleashed a river of yellow onto the snow before racing back to Trowa's side.

"Good job," Trowa congratulated him and led the way back into the house.

He cleaned off Wufei's paws before letting him loose, knowing he would probably head straight for the bed and curl up against Duo, his favorite body to cuddle into.

Trowa debated starting a pot of coffee but decided not to. They all had the day off and Duo had waxed poetic about their bed last night before finally falling asleep, so Trowa doubted he would be leaving it anytime soon.

He removed the coat and boots and headed back into the bedroom, the idea of curling back up between Duo and Heero and sleeping for a few more hours very appealing.

His plans were, not exactly ruined, but in need of revision as soon as he walked into the doorway.

Wufei was not on the bed, was, in fact on the dog bed that Heero had purchased for the express purpose of keeping the dog from ever sleeping with them. It hadn't worked - Wufei insisted on sleeping on the bed at all times, especially if Duo was home. The only time he obeyed Heero's command to _Go to Bed_ , meaning his own bed, was when his three owners had sex. Wufei had been accidentally kicked in the face a few too many times, and had resigned himself to sitting on his dog bed and looking at the other bed with sad, judgemental eyes.

Just as he was doing now.

Wufei glanced at Trowa, a hopeful look that Trowa had to arch an eyebrow at. Trowa was the last person who would attempt to put an end to the activities currently taking place on the bed.

There was a time, years ago, when their relationship was new and Trowa still convinced he would be abandoned by his partners, when walking in on Heero sucking Duo's dick would have left him feeling cold, his anxiety overriding any pleasure he felt at the sight of them.

Now, however, he could lean against the doorframe and leisurely admire them.

Heero, crouched between Duo's legs, had Duo's dick buried in his mouth, his lips completely obscured by Duo's pubic hair as he deep throated the other man. Both Duo and Trowa marveled at Heero's ability to do that, at the way he had such complete control over his own body. Having been on the receiving end of similar attention from Heero only two nights ago, Trowa smirked as he watched them.

Duo had his fingers clenched tightly in Heero's hair, holding him in place while he flexed his hips, shallowly thrusting up into Heero's mouth while Heero held tight to Duo's hips, controlling the movement. Duo's head was thrown back, his eyes squeezed tightly shut and his mouth open in slack-jawed ectasy. Trowa saw it, the moment when Duo came. Saw Duo's fingers spasm in Heero's hair, saw him give two fast, erratic thrusts and then arch his back off the bed, saw Heero's throat convulse as he swallowed Duo's cum.

What Trowa felt at the sight was most definitely not jealousy.

He had never seen anything so beautiful, so unguarded and pure as Duo during orgasm. He had never told Duo that, never told him just how incredible he was to behold because Duo had a tendency to be entirely too self-aware at times, but Trowa and Heero had talked about it.

Though Trowa was also, technically, a field agent, Une had parked him in Intelligence for the past two years while Heero had been riding a desk job ever since taking the bullet for Relena a year after the war that shattered his right knee cap and had left him with a limp. Only Duo spent long stints out in the field, only Duo spent months at a time undercover.

When he had been gone, the first time, Trowa and Heero had spent the entire three months living like monks - sleeping side by side but not touching, not even kissing each other because they were afraid it would be a betrayal of Duo. But when the long haired man returned to them he demanded details, wanted to know just how and where Trowa and Heero had fucked while he was gone so he could compare his fantasies to reality, so he had something to think about the _next_ time he was away. Heero had taken the mission assignment to heart, had made sure that Trowa and he had sex on nearly every feasible surface in the house and even recorded them a few times for Duo's later viewing pleasure.

Trowa had done it first, had pinned Heero against a wall and whispered in his ear, voice low and rough, had reminded Heero in detail what Duo looked like when he came, had held Heero while the other man thrust against him, had gotten him off with just the words, the memory of Duo and the friction of his thigh between Heero's legs. Heero had, predictably, turned the tables on Trowa and given him similar treatment one morning in the shower.

It was one of the few secrets they kept from Duo - the fact that the memory of his orgasm was potent enough, erotic enough, to get them off.

Heero sat back a moment later, wincing at the pressure on his injured knee before he shifted his weight.

Duo drew in a deep breath.

"Fuck," he exhaled. "Fuck, I've missed you."

"And what about me?" Trowa spoke up, arching an eyebrow when Duo and Heero looked over at him.

Heero, lips swollen and wet, smirked at him.

Duo rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah I guess I missed you too."

Duo had, of course, very enthusiastically told and expressed how happy he was to be back with them both last night.

"C'mere," Duo added, holding out his hand.

Trowa pushed away from the door and walked over to the bed. He stopped, just out of Duo's reach, and looked down at him.

He let his eyes roam over Duo's naked body, looking over him more closely than he had last night.

Heero had been the one to pick up Duo from the shuttleport, and by the time Trowa got home that evening Duo had showered and changed, was sitting at the kitchen counter eating a grilled cheese sandwich and drinking a glass of red wine. Later, when the three of them had fallen into bed together for the first time in months, no one, least of all Duo, had had the patience for a thorough examination of his body.

Trowa let his eyes linger on the bruising just below Duo's ribs.

"Not a big deal," Duo said, his tone a little weary.

Trowa doubted that Heero had joined Duo in the shower last night - Duo usually needed a few hours if not a few days of privacy before he was ready to relax with them again - so he looked over to see Heero's reaction.

But Heero wasn't focused on the bruising. He was looking at the thick, pink line of scar tissue on Duo's left side.

"That's not new," Heero said.

Duo dropped the hand he had been holding out to Trowa and shifted, sitting up and drawing his knees to his chest in what was a clear, if probably unconscious, effort to make himself smaller.

Trowa took a small step backwards, giving Duo space, and they waited.

"Second day on assignment. The gang thought I was a narc and I had to, you know, not _die_ to prove to them that I wasn't." He shrugged. "So I didn't die."

"It was close, though," Trowa pointed out, thinking through the anatomy, wondering just how close that blade had come to Duo's lungs, to his heart.

"Yeah but not like… as close as when _someone_ we know tried to self-destruct."

Heero's lips twitched. Duo always used that as a deflection, and it always worked, at least for Heero.

But it had been Trowa who sat beside a comatose Heero for a month. It had been Trowa who had demanded Duo be extracted from a mission two years ago when he almost died and, as a result, unofficially given desk duty ever since. It was Trowa who woke up late at night with the smell of death in his nostrils and the taste of bile in his mouth. Trowa who had to reach out, had to scrape his fingers over the skin of Heero's back, the tendrils of Duo's hair, to reassure himself that they were alive, that they were safe.

Duo took in the tightness around Trowa's eyes, the compression of his lips. Trowa would never say anything, would never ask Duo to step away from undercover work. Heero would never ask him either, but it didn't mean they didn't both want it, didn't both talk about it when they were alone and Duo's spot in the bed cold.

"But yeah," Duo agreed after a moment, "it was close. I, uh, I had a chat with Une during my extraction."

Trowa frowned. He hadn't heard anything about that. Usually he handled Duo's debriefings, reporting them to Une, instead of having Duo interact with their supervisor.

"Did you upset a colonial official again?" Heero guessed.

Duo sneered at him.

" _No_. I don't know," he added and ran a hand through his hair. "I probably did. But that's not why - I told Une I want out."

"Out of the field?" Trowa asked, too afraid to hope.

Duo shook his head and Trowa felt the hope die. Duo had wanted out - as in out from the extraction? He tried to figure out what Duo meant.

"Out of Preventers. I'm done. After this last mission - I'm done."

Trowa didn't press him for details. He could read them in the official debrief.

"What did Une say?"

Duo snorted a laugh.

"She tried to get me to stay on, tried to give me a raise, offered to let _you_ back in the field even, Tro and then she tried to get me to agree to freelance work, then to training recruits." Duo shook his head. "But in the end she agreed to let me go."

"For good?" Heero clarified.

Duo nodded and Trowa didn't even bother to conceal his sigh of relief.

"So this means _you_ can start waking up at six in the morning to take Wufei out," Trowa said.

Duo gave him a look.

Heero reached over and brushed Duo's hair away from his face.

"Thank you," he said, voice soft and sincere.

Duo nodded and turned his head to press a kiss to Heero's palm.

He lifted an eyebrow in Trowa's direction.

"Wasn't someone whining about me not appreciating how good their mouth felt on my dick earlier?"

Trowa snorted but he climbed back onto the bed, pressing a quick, fierce kiss to Duo's lips as he did.

"I'd rather listen to you tell me how good it feels to have my dick in your ass," he said.

Duo licked his lips.

"Yeah, but I'd rather be sucking off Heero while you fuck me so…"

"So maybe we can save the talking for later," Heero concluded.

-o-

The End

Merry Christmas, Happy Valentine's Day and lots and lots of love for you Flamerebel!


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